Born for Greatness
by Ronin is Working
Summary: Naruto knew that becoming a genin meant that he was one step closer to becoming Hokage, it didn't take long for him to realize how right he was. Trained from the start to become Konoha's future leader, how will Naruto deal with that weight on his shoulder? More importantly, how will he deal with his biggest competition being his teammates?Pairing undecided. Not a harem for once.
1. Seven 1

**Yo, yo, yo, it's Ro, coming at you with a new fic. The title is generic, I know, but it stuck to me, mostly because I listen to Papa Roach too much. Give it a shot.**

 **000BfG000**

" _YOU GUYS!... Pass."_

The declaration – made days previous – still resonated with him, a burning joy boiling up from the depths of his soul and engulfing the whole of his being whenever he reminisced on that single moment. That moment was something special, it would stand as he first true step towards becoming Hokage, he was sure of it.

Kakashi'd given them a few days to collect their bearings after the test and prepare for the trials to come. He – alongside Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno – would from today forward be considered the proteges of the Jonin with the hair that gravity forgot, Copy Cat Hatake Kakashi.

The excitement was so thick that it deprived him of sleep, leaving him awake for days until his body final gave and he fainted. This would also be the reason why he was running late.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Cuss words descended onto the denizens of Konohagakure no Sato as Naruto desperately leapt from apartment roof, to street post, to billboard, to yet another roof. His movements would at first appear death defying and haphazard, and they were to an extent, but he carried them out with carefully honed precision garnered from years of shinobi training just as well as years of evading those that would see him punished for his misdeeds.

He careened off the edge of a government building that was responsible for something or another and into the trees that signaled the beginning of the training grounds that populated a good portion of Konoha. He dashed from branch to branch; flipping and spinning and clawing his way through each training, ground going largely unnoticed by those shinobi that used them until his destination was in sight.

"Safe!" Naruto cheered landing dead center in the middle of the clearing that was reserved from the squadron.

"Late!" Sakura Haruno, a bundle of fury and pink hair, corrected with an angered shout. Naruto deflated, excepting his new teammate's chiding in stride.

"Only by a few minutes," He whined.

"Not like it matters," Sasuke sighed, sitting under the shade of a tree. "It not like Kakashi is here yet. Don't make such a fuss."

Naruto was left at a loss with Sasuke defending him, though he immediately brushed it off as him just wanting Sakura to be quiet. Crush still withstanding, he could admit that when Sakura decided to start screeching it could become grating.

"I… well, I guess you're right," Sakura attempted to recover, her anger folding in at Sasuke's demand.

"Oh, ho, ho, ho, who isn't here now?" The genin trio 'jumped' a bit as Kakashi suddenly appears before them, this time without the smoke and mirrors as he materialized in the midst of them.

"You're late!" Sakura screeched again, Naruto winced a bit and he took note that Sasuke did much the same, yet Kakashi appeared unfazed.

"No," Kakashi deflected the accusation.

"Yes!" Sakura stuck to her guns.

The cyclops curved a thumb back at a tree not ten feet away from where Sasuke sat. "I was there. Afterall it wouldn't do to deal with your pestering until all of you had arrived."

Team 7, as one, gave their sensei a look that mimicked that of a dead fish's stare, such was their exasperation. "Well then~!" The tall, broad-shouldered ninja clapped his hand with an effeminate perkiness to his voice. "Let's begin."

And so, with a bit of bickering and shuffling Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto were soon seated before Kakashi, lounging before him on the grass while he himself sat on a mound of hardened dirt that had risen from the earth after a flash of hand seals on the Jonin's part.

"Well," Kakashi seemed to deflate, his nonchalant, almost childish demeanor vanishing, replaced by eyes of stone and a frown of cold command. "Let's be clear. You all passing was no fluke."

"Well duh!" Naruto's cockiness was on full blast. "We passed, because we're awesome, well Sakura-chan and I-" Naruto would have made a snide comment about how Sasuke was so totally not awesome, but he stopped as he felt a coldness flinching at his heart. He searched for a source and was met with Kakashi's glare. A cold, palpable aura radiated off him, invisible to the eye, yet undoubtedly present.

"You'll be learning plenty of rules while on this teams. Rule Number Fourteen, do not interrupt me during briefings. You will find that I will not be as kind as your academy teachers."

That was saying something, Naruto considered, thinking back to how severe the academy would punish him. Still he had the irking suspicion that Kakashi wouldn't settle on making him stand at the back of class or give him detention.

After another moment of silence Kakashi began again. "As I was saying, you three passing was not a fluke. Not truly. I allowed you to pass, seeing that you were at least capable of grasping a vague concept of what teamwork is… and also because I already knew what the outcome would be had I failed you. The fact is that had that happened, the three of you would be given, at most, a month of remedial courses and then sent back to me. I was to be stuck with you no matter what."

Sakura opened her mouth to voice her disbelief at this turn of events but thought better of it having witnessed how a look from the scarecrow could shut the loud mouth of Naruto of all.

"The three of you are each considered special assets to the village, as much is apparent by the designation of this team. Team 7. Make no mistake about it there is more meaning to that number than it would seem. This squadron designation has been used only four times, the three of you being the fifth iteration. The first Team 7 consisted of Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, and Hamura Mitokado lead by Tobirama Senju and advised by Hashirama Senju. The second team was Tsunade Senju alongside Jiraiya and Orochimaru of Sannin fame with Hiruzen Sarutobi taking lead. Squad 7's third generation considered of Minato Namikaze, Hiashi Hyūga, and Mikoto Uchiha; Jiraiya serving as the captain. The most recent cycle saw Minato Namikaze as its leader, serving under him was Rin Nohara, Obito Uchiha, and myself. You are the newest rendition of this squadron."

Naruto seemed bored by Kakashi's spill – most of those names flying over his head – and Sasuke only perked up at the mention of his mother. Sakura on the other hand…

"T-that can't be!" Her eyes were so wide that they were at threat of falling out.

Kakashi, rather than scold Sakura for speaking out of turn, smirked a bit at her reaction. "It seems that at least one of you are astute enough to catch on."

"What are you on about?" Sasuke's question didn't have a specific target, he did not care who responded to him as long as he got an answer.

"I-it's in the history books. Of the first three teams that Kakashi-sensei named, each and everyone one of them, at one time or another, were prominent mentions for the position of Hokage. Hiruzen Sarutobi is our third and current Hokage. Minato Namikaze was our fourth. And Jiraiya is rumored at being pressured to take the role of Fifth."

Naruto and Sasuke now joined her in wide-eyed awe.

"That is correct." Kakashi said. "It's a poorly keep secret at this point, but those that belong to Team 7, without exception are those acknowledged by the current Hokage – the man who assigns the teams in the first place – as early contenders from the seat of Hokage. From this day forward, you should all consider yourself as Hokage candidates. Do carry yourselves as such."

"WHAT!? YATTAAAAA!"

Naruto's gleeful scream was heard by very well everyone in Konohagakure no Sato, if not Hi no Kuni.

 **000BfG000**

 **And done! I'm back into the swing of writing, baby! Or I'm at the very least attempting to get back into it. I've decided to use a very basic premise of 'Kakashi training Team 7 with more hands-on methods', but since this** **is** **so basic I'll be to tact sub-premises onto this story rather easily as opposed to when dealing with more solid, linear premises.**

 **Also, I'll ask and answer a question that I may get in the reviews preemptively.**

 **Q:** Is it stupid for Kakashi to tell a team of greenhorns that they're practically sure-ins for the greatest position in the village?

 **A:** Yes, but only at face value. I'll elaborate and defend Kakashi's reasoning for doing this in the next chapter and those following it.

 **I have a solid grasp of how I'm going to develop Naruto's abilities and I will be heavily borrowing from Bleach for him. No swords though. You'll see what I mean**

 **As for Sasuke and Sakura I'm open for suggestions. I've never seriously written for characters other than Naruto Uzumaki in main character roles, so this is just as much of an experiment for me to test my writing chops out on non-shoenen protagonist characters than it is for me to have a bit of fun and get my writing legs back in shape.**

 **As a side note, not super important, but Team Seven will be strong here, not hella supa stronk, but do expect those in their age range to become weary of them as their infamy grows.**

 **Lastly, because this A/N is too long already, I'm on Discord, you can find me and some other writers on this server: discord . gg / bPAX3vJ. Just remove the spaces.**

 **Cya,**


	2. Seven 2

"Idiot!"

Naruto crashed hard into the dirt face first, courtesy of Sakura's fist. Kakashi felt no sympathy for the loudmouth. He rubbed his ears with a fever, trying to rid himself of the ringing brought on by the boy's previous scream of joy. It should not be feasible for a human to be so loud.

That actually gave him an idea.

' _Hmm… not gonna happen_ ,' He scratched such an idea from his mental notes. Teaching Naruto to weaponize his vocal cords would be more trouble than it was worth. "Did either of you listen to me?"

"Of course, sensei!" Naruto was back up in an instant. "You said that I'm going to be the next Hokage. I mean, I already knew that by the way, but it's cool that everyone else is getting with the picture!"

"Get over yourself, dumbass." Sakura rolled her eyes. "If anyone is going to be the next Hokage, it Sasuke-kun. Right Sasuke-kun?" She looked at Sasuke, hoping for a positive reaction. The Uchiha only grunted, uncaring.

"I see that I was too bold with my statement." Kakashi sighed. "None of you are guaranteed the position of Hokage. There's more than a handful of shinobi more qualified to become Konoha's next leader, far more. The three of you stand at the beginning of a path that can lead to the such a seat of power. It's on you to reach that road's end. You can start by acting as a kage should. Remaining calm even as emotions take you would be a start, so avoid flying into fits of excitement or rage."

"Er, right? I'll keep that in mind, sensei." Naruto promised, rubbing the nape of his neck.

"Sorry." Sakura apologized, more to Kakashi than Naruto, giving the jonin a slight bow.

"Why mention it all?" Sasuke asked, lips twisted into a scowl. "What's the point of telling us something that is so far off."

"The truth?"

Sasuke nodded, Naruto and Sakura also looking at him for the answer.

"Well…" Kakashi took a moment to gather himself. His underlining concern was evident in every aspect of his body language. "...Konoha is in a peculiar situation right now. It would not be too speculative to say that war in on the horizon." The genin trio took the news poorly, put on edge by it, but Kakashi took that continue regardless of the recoil.

"The signs of war go overlooked by civilian and inexperienced shinobi. Those that haven't lived through war don't think to pay attention to the warnings, so let me spell it out for the three of you. Sunagakure is in an economic depression. Kirigakure is still in the midst of a long-lasted civil war. Konohagakure never recovered from the Kyūbi's attack, in reality. The death rate has taken a sharp increase as the administrative branch sends less experienced shinobi on missions that would have been reserved for those that we lost that night. These dire straits that we were left in only worsened after the Uchiha's collective demise. All the while Kumogakure and Iwagakure have been building military power in earnest." Naruto and Sasuke moved about uneasily at the mention of the Kyūbi's attack and Uchiha massacre respectively.

"I don't get it. What does all that have to do with war?"

"Will you think for once," Sasuke growled, visible pissed by how oblivious Naruto chose to be or maybe it was him taking his aggression out on the blond. "How do you think the third great war started?"

"There was a decline in national prominence among the great villages. For the first time, the world was in relative peace, but the peace made the five villages docile. We became less concerned with showing our might. Lesser villages took this as a sign of weakness and made bids for power; attacking the great villages. The early days of the war were spent putting down would-be usurpers. The great villages would later turn on each other, brought on from disagreements on how annexed land – gained from defunct villages – should be sorted." Sakura – knowing that Naruto did not pay attention to history lessons – took pity on him; tapping into her encyclopedic knowledge to explain matters to him.

"Correct." Kakashi nodded. "Too few shinobi understand that they should remain vigilant even in times of peace. The best way to ward off war is to always be prepared for it or at least appear to be."

"Why tell us this? What do you expect genin to do?" Sasuke asked. Genin are guppies in a pool of sharks, what were they to do to stop a war?

"Tacticians prepare for war by looking at current and future threats. Wars could last years, so they prepare for long-standing combat. Veterans and new recruits alike should display themselves as capable and strong. Konohagakure, even in current times, has a strong pool of older shinobi. Its the younger generation where the worry sets in. It has been over a decade since any academy student has done anything to draw any sort of fame to themselves. Not since Itachi Uchiha."

Sasuke was fuming now, his mask of indifference cracking.

"So that it? You're hoping to motivate us into becoming a viable deterrent to other villages?"

"Hn, not quite," Kakashi leaned forward leveling his eye on Team 7, unnerving them. "You're all members of Team 7 now. Your share a legacy with my teammates, with my sensei, so you're going to live up to that mantle. I'll break you down to your core and create you anew from the crumpled remains if needed. I figure you are least deserve to understand my motives on the days where you curse my existence. Those days will undoubtedly come. So any questions?" Kakashi chirped, reasserting a perky disposition. It proved to be unsettling after his speel on how he would be putting them through hell.

"Only one." Sakura raised her hand. "Why were we chosen over everyone else. I understand Sasuke-kun, but Naruto is an idiot and ...well I'm..."

"Both of you do suck." Kakashi blunt words cut deeply.

"Hey! -" Naruto began, but Kakashi raised his hand in a halting motion.

"I'm not here to sugarcoat you issues, kid. You and Pinkie have terrible foundations. It's almost as if you didn't take the academy seriously at all."

"They didn't," Sasuke interjected. Sakura shriveled up into herself as her crush mocked her, whilst Naruto looked ready to spew a string of foul language.

"That's neither here nor there now. The two of you managed to slip pass your exams by a sequence of small miracles, so you're my problem now. You won't be allowed to half-ass your way through life from here on. I assure you as much. That being said you two aren't without redeeming qualities. Sakura, if your records are to believed, you excel at mental challenges and have an eidetic memory as well as a firm grasp at controlling your chakra. I can definitely work with that if you are willing to put forth your share of effort."

Sakura brightened, a bit of her confidence restored by Kakashi's appraisal.

"What about me, Sensei!"

"Naruto Uzumaki, an idiotic delinquent that failed the academy exam three times. The holder of the record for most absentees in academy history."

"Sensei." Naruto glowered, wishing that the scarecrow would get to the point.

"You have a tremendous amount of chakra. You're also actually capable of achieving excellence with the proper motivation and guidance. That appraisal is straight from Iruka's mouth. He's the academy's most competent instructor so I have reason to believe that you are not as hopeless as you first seem. Beyond that, you should know why you're on this team…" Naruto froze, fearing that Kakashi would reveal secrets that he wasn't ready for the world to know. "… You're the last member of the Uzumaki Clan, a family that rivals the Uchiha and Senju during the warring states period. I plan to drag forth the latent potential that I'm sure is in you somewhere."

"I'm what!?/He's what!?"

Kakashi sighed, running his hand through his hair, looking ready to pull it out. ' _I have my work cut out for me_.'

"Well then, shall we begin?"


End file.
